You can also see things like
battery status, both the current
capacity and the life. There’s a
temperature gauge, you can switch
between miles or kilometers, see
the firmware, service history log,
and there’s a nifty service booklet
included as well. In short, there are
a lot of smart features built into this
bike.

ABOUT THE POWER

The battery is hidden in the
downtube. Though it can be removed
for charging, there’s a Rosenberg
charge port on the left side of the
downtube. We love that type of
charge port. It’s so easy to insert the
plug, and there’s no way to get the
orientation wrong. And, it pops off
easily if someone catches it with a
leg going by, so they don’t trip and
your bike isn’t knocked over.

Some of the controller and
electronic components are also in the
downtube, below the battery, helping
to bring the center of gravity lower
and balancing the weight even better.

A 48-volt, 500-watt, direct-drive Syno-Drive rear hub motor
with 38 N/m of torque powers the
bike through a Shimano XT 1x11
drivetrain. Acceleration is powerful
and quick. Since it is a direct-drive
motor, the regenerative mode comes
in handy on long hills to drag the
motor a little (like downshifting in a
car).

THE PARTS

The Magura MT2 Next four-piston
hydraulic disc brakes work great and
are robust, providing ample grip that
helps grab the big 180mm rotors
with impressive results. Activating
the brakes via the levers not only
cuts the power from the hub motor,
but also switches it to regenerative
mode for a moment while brakes are
applied. Though there’s no significant
power put back into the battery by
this, it does really add to the braking
effi ciency.

The original ST2 has a headlight
that puts out about 200 lumens. The
ST2 S has a blinding 1600-lumen
bulb that can also be dimmed to
900. Nobody will miss you at night!
There’s an attractive daytime running
light in the head tube consisting of